American Households Hold Record Debt Q1 2024


Posted Originally on May 16, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

Debt Burden

The New York Federal Reserve reported that American households set a new record after plummeting into $17.69 trillion of debt, a 1.1% ($184 billion) increase from Q4 2023. Worse, the number of delinquencies is rising as households struggle to make ends meet amid the cost of living crisis. Inflation is not waning, taxes are rising, and America’s debt burden has become utterly unmanageable.

Mortgage balances rose by $190 billion and reached $12.44 trillion by March. People are paying far more in interest alone than they have in recent years. Those who bought in the hopes of refinancing are not in a good position. Auto loan debt rose by $9 billion, reaching $1.62 trillion.

Americans have been attempting to pay off their credit card balances, with overall credit card debt declining by $14 billion to $1.12 trillion. Yet, that was close to a record-high for credit card debt and we tend to see balances lowered after the holiday retail spending spree ends. Consumers do not want to pay those 20%+ interest rates on cards but many are forced to do so simply to put food on the table.

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Delinquencies are rising – this is a major issue. It is difficult to crawl out of debt once someone is deep within the cycle. “In the first quarter of 2024, credit card and auto loan transition rates into serious delinquency continued to rise across all age groups,” said Joelle Scally, regional economic principal within the Household and Public Policy Research Division at the New York Fed. “An increasing number of borrowers missed credit card payments, revealing worsening financial distress among some households.”

Credit card delinquencies have reached their highest levels since 2012 when America was recovering from the Great Recession. In fact, by the end of Q1 2024, around 3.2% of all outstanding debt was in delinquency. The New York Fed reported a rise in missed payments across all debts, including those 90 days past due.

No foreign nation is coming to offer America a bailout check. The Biden Administration has made it clear that American households are NOT Washington’s priority. We are to continue working and paying taxes in order to fund foreign wars and climate change packages. How else will we house those 7+ million illegal migrants and offer them free healthcare and shelter? How else will we pay off the student loans for millions? How else will we continue to grow the public sector and pay for countless new social programs? Americans are in serious debt, and Washington is all but ensuring this trend continues.

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Germany Considers Conscription for Men and Women Over 18


Posted originally on May 14, 2024 By Martin Armstrong

Germany is considering forcing the youngest adults in their population to die in the name of a proxy war that in no way affected Germany, the German people or their way of life. Former President Donald Trump warned Germany that it had become too reliant on Russian energy and they mocked him. Sadly, German leadership had known all along that the ultimate goal was to use Ukraine as their gateway to attack Russia. As I’ve stated countless times, Merkel openly admitted that the Minsk Agreement was merely a ploy to weaken Russia’s defenses and buy time for Ukraine to build its military. Russia has not backed down and now the proxy war is becoming a global conflict.

Everyone criticized Trump for condemning his NATO allies in 2018. At the time, only five nations were meeting their 2% GDP spending requirement on NATO defense, with the US paying around 5%. Trump suggested that everyone contribute 4% to build a stronger alliance. He never wanted to back away from NATO to support Putin; rather, he wanted to back away from NATO because he felt the US had been taken advantage of by its European allies. Trump even threatened to remove the US from the NATO alliance because he simply did not see the benefits to domestic interests.

Trump called Ukraine the wall between Russia and Europe and stated that America had become the “sucker country” by shelling out millions to Ukraine when they received far less in return. He warned Europe that their reliance on Russian imported energy would spell disaster and went as far as declaring that Germany was “totally controlled by Russia.” Instead of looking for energy alternatives, Germany went through with the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline and wasted billions as sanctions were implemented before the pipeline was fully functional.

This is yet another reason why they are fearful of a Trump re-election, for he has vowed to remove America from these senseless wars as part of his first plan of action. The globalists and neocons simply cannot allow that to happen.

Minsk Agreement Head of State

Perhaps Germany believed they could rely on an alternative supplier for energy. Perhaps they believed Ukraine would have made at least a dent in Russia’s military power. Instead, they are prepared to send their own kids to die for this senseless war. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he is “convinced” that Germany “needs a form of military conscription.”

Since the West has effectively eliminated genders or the need for a family structure, they plan to draft both men and women. Anyone fit to fight will be sent off to die. Pistorius believes Germany needs 200,000 troops to begin training immediately.

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The centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) are no longer opposing conscription and now support the “reintroduction of conscription in a step-by-step process,” much to the support of Pistorius. All those virtue signaling with Ukraine flags and cheering each aid package must now acknowledge that their own youth will be sent off to war, and many will never return home. They cheer the “good” guys winning these battles abroad in Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel, but fail to understand that there is no “good” guy in the game of war. The people are merely chess pieces to be used as pawns by their governments.

The worst part about all of this is that Germany KNEW they were going to fight Russia. Ten years ago, Germany knew they were going to fight Russia. I discuss this in detail in my book, “The Plot to Seize Russia.” The fact of the matter is that the West could not simply enter Russia without giving the public a reason for warfare and creating countless fake flags, demonizing its opponent through propaganda, and attempting to weaken its military through a proxy war. We are now embarking on the beginning of the third world war thanks to the manipulation of the elites in power who have absolutely no regard for human life.

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China Dethroned as Germany’s Largest Trading Partner


Posted origially on May 13, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

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The United States has surpassed China to become Germany’s largest trading partner. Trade between the US and Germany came in at $68 billion (63 billion euros) during Q1, compared to about 60 billion euros between China and Germany.

If we look at these figures, they pale in comparison to the aid packages we are sending foreign nations. It is appropriate to put these numbers into perspective to understand the true economic unruliness of these proxy wars.

Now, the United States has not become more competitive, and there is a known lag in manufacturing. Biden promised to add an additional one million manufacturing jobs to the US but has failed to attract new business. The issue here is that Germany has stated they would like to reduce their reliance on Chinese goods, as does America. Concurrently, Chinese manufacturing has strengthened to where they do not need to export as many goods from Germany.

China US Trade

The IFO, a German economic research institute, found that only 37% of companies stated they were dependent on China in February 2024 compared to 46% in the year prior. The research center noted that the outbreak of Russia’s war with Ukraine was the catalyst for the West decreasing trade with China. “The proportion of German companies that rely on important inputs or goods from China has declined in both industry and trade and is now just under 40% in each case,” the study states.

It is undeniable that Chinese goods come at a lower cost to the consumer. However, smart business does not conduct trade with an adversary, and the West was the first to label China due to its ties to Russia and the West’s desire to dismantle the One China policy with Taiwan. China is also hesitant to conduct business in the West, as they have seen numerous businesses sanctioned or dismantled. People are praising the US and Germany for reducing trade with China, one of the bad guys. They do not realize that this will lead to a higher cost of goods for everyone.

Over Half of New IRS Audits Targeted the Middle Class


Posted May 13, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

Washington’s reckless spending comes with a cost to US taxpayers. While the fed may simply roll over their debt and issue new debt to pay off the old, the American public is on the hook for immediate liquidity every single year via taxation. The misconception that Biden would only target the wealthy needs to be dispelled as a recent study reveals that 63% of new audits targeted Americans earning under $200,000.

Now, Biden initially claimed he would send his troop of IRS agents to target Americans earning double that amount. The billionaire class was not targeted, as 80% of all audits were on filers earning under $1 million. Yes, there are far more taxpayers in the middle and lower brackets. However, the IRS merely claimed they would prioritize hunting higher earners; they never explicitly said they wouldn’t come after ALL Americans.

The entire hunt for taxation has been a war on the middle class, who is unable to file massive write-offs and cannot afford to continue paying Uncle Sam on every incoming and outgoing transaction, plus savings, income, and everything else from birth to death. Washington effectively lowered our purchasing power by fueling inflation through absurd fiscal and social policies, and now they are asking people to give them even more of whatever money that remains. Washington continues to spend taxpayer funds on initiatives that the people have never once voted on, and ahead of election season, Biden is going on yet another spending spree with your money to buy off voters.

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The highest earners know how to avoid taxes. Trump famously told Hillary during a debate prior to the 2016 US Presidential Election that he obviously used the loopholes in the tax system, as do all financially savvy businessmen. “Her donors took massive tax write offs… and other things that Hillary as a Senator allowed,” Trump stated during the debate. “So do Warren Buffett, so does George Soros, and so do other people Hillary is supported by,” he added. Note that the Democrats in control have never repealed restrictions on these tax loopholes that only help their wealthy donors.

Every new war, aid package, climate change package, social program, and migrant who crosses the border is now the responsibility of the US taxpayer. They wrongly believe that our money belongs to the federal government, with the state also taking out their share. Then, they create new taxes, such as targeting capital gains, to ensure that every American is stretched thin. Did anyone vote for this nonsense? We do not live in a Democracy and anyone who says otherwise is either misinformed or lying.

It will become far easier for governments to extort the people when they introduce CBDC in January 2025. Uncle Sam will think you have hidden any cash on hand from him, cash that belongs to him, once they force us to digitize our dollars. Inflation will continue to rise above GDP and we will enter a period of stagflation. This is why I have warned countless times that private and tangible assets are a safer bet compared to cash as we move into 2028.

Eliminating Cash in Australia ASAP – Number ONE Anti-Free Speech in the World


Posted originally on May 12, 2024 By Martin Armstrong 

Macquarie Bank ends cash 5 10 24

Macquarie Bank has announced it will Abolish Cash and it warns customers to prepare for the new CASHLESS WORD to ensure the government knows everything about you and what you are buying or selling. Macquarie has just over $250 billion in assets. They have informed clients that.

“Between January 2024 and November 2024, we’ll be phasing out our cash and cheque services across all Macquarie banking and wealth management products, including pension and super accounts.” 

Australia is way ahead of the game with its socialistic agendas. They have been obsessed with taxes and have even gone as far as stalking children on their way to school and checking the school to see how they are being paid. This is real Hitler stuff. The Swiss created numbered accounts because Hitler forbade a German from having any account outside Germany.

Australia Censorship

Australia has turned so far to the LEFT they have become the NUMBER ONE censoring free speech in the world, all to keep their agenda moving forward. As an Australian resident, you are taxed on your worldwide income. This means you must declare all income you receive from foreign sources in your income tax return.  The government wants two years in prison for anyone who paid for anything with more than $10,000 in cash. Australians have been blocked by Amazon from buying anything from their US site because the government has effectively imposed a tariff of 10% on anything an Australian may purchase under $1,000 from the internet overseas. The government directed Banks to hand over any information on the unexplained wealth of a convicted person in Australia. The socialists are insane down under. They want to impose that when you die, nothing goes to your children – it all should belong to the government.

Macquarie Bank is carrying out the final straw – the end of all CASH – that evil thing that keeps socialists up every night worrying about what you might have under the mattress. Cyclically, the Australia Act 1986 effectively terminated the ability of the British Parliament or Government to make laws for Australia or its States. That is the true date for Australian Independence cyclically. We are looking at how this present socialist government will collapse post-2032, but the process may begin by 2027. By 2037, we should see a completely new government for their ideas will bring the government crashing down the same as they brought Communism down in 1989-1991.

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